Association opposes plan to shift jewellery workers

The India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA) today requested the government to find an alternative place before evicting around 70,000 jewellery workers who operate from the famous Zaveri Bazaar area in south Mumbai.
The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai has decided to evict these workers, who operate from tiny rooms in Zaveri Bazaar, in the wake of a major fire last month in the nearby Kalbadevi which claimed the lives of four fire brigade officers.
"We have urged Maharashtra government to find alternative place before taking any action against these jewellery workers....70,000 jewellery workers cannot be moved out overnight," IBJA president Mohit Kamboj said in a statement.

The civic authorities decided to shift the jewellery workshops after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered an enquiry into the fire and resultant collapse of building in Kalbadevi last month.
Fire brigade's report said the fire was caused because some jewellery workshops operated on the 4th floor without any license and without any fire-safety measures.
MCGM has already started sealing jewellery workshops in the C-ward in south Mumbai.
Kamboj said these workshops were operating in the area for the last over 100 years, and the workers were preserving a an old culture.